Wuhan Research Institute of Post and Telecommunications (WRI) and NEC Corporation have signed an agreement to establish a joint venture in China. The new firm will engage in 3G mobile infrastructure development, manufacturing, sales, maintenance, and system engineering for wireless circuit design.

The name of the new firm will be "Wuhan Fiberhome Mobile Communication Inc". A 65% share of the new company will be hold by WRI, a 30% share by NEC and NEC Telecom China and a 5% share by others. The new company plans to start with 100 employees and is set to be established within June of this year in Wuhan.

WRI was established by the Research Institute of Chinese Post and Telecommunications ministry, and is now one of top manufacturers in the field of telecommunications infrastructure in China.

As a local vendor in China, the joint venture company will contribute to the early establishment of 3G infrastructures in China by expanding W-CDMA and developing TD-SCDMA based on NEC's state-of-the-art 3G ( W-CDMA ) infrastructure technology and 3G network design and optimization technologies, utilizing WRI's extensive maintenance, sales, and service network and established relationships with telecommunications carriers.

By working together with WRI, NEC gets to establish a 3G business operation structure taking strong hold in China.

NEC, together with its 3G alliance partner Siemens, has already become a leading company in 3G infrastructure with respect to orders received and extent of commercial applications. To build on this base, NEC is striving to expand the 3G infrastructure business in the Chinese market mainly through NEC Telecom ( China ), established in June 2004. NEC Telecom ( China ) will work with Siemens and also through its joint venture with WRI in an optimal formation to expand 3G infrastructure business in China.